Consumer collectives in the circular economy: A systematic review and research agenda

Abstract

Despite the importance of social connections and communities in creating, maintaining and advocating circular consumption patterns, the role of consumer collectives has not been adequately defined in the circular economy literature. Through a systematic review of 145 articles from the sustainability literature, a novel conceptual framework was created to address this gap. The current study reveals that the role of consumer collectives in the circular economy is multi-levelled and recursive. First, the framework presents how members of the consumer collective shape the group's characteristics and share their capabilities for circular consumption. In turn, consumer collectives satisfy their members' social needs and enable behavioural changes towards circularity. Second, consumer collectives influence other actors in society by creating institutional plurality and diffusing circular initiatives. Societal structures do not merely shape collectives' courses of action but also enable the actions themselves. The present study contributes to the emerging field of circular consumption by introducing a multi-level, collective perspective on consumers' role in the circular economy. It also offers a research agenda to inspire further theoretical exploration of this topic. Furthermore, the framework provides implications for individual consumers, consumer collectives and policy makers on utilising the identified mechanisms of influence to increase circular consumption.